Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Romans 11, 1-2.11-12.25-29
What I am saying is this: is it possible that God abandoned his people? Out of the question! I too am an Israelite, descended from Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
God never abandoned his own people to whom, ages ago, he had given recognition. Do you not remember what scripture says about Elijah and how he made a complaint to God against Israel:
What I am saying is this: Was this stumbling to lead to their final downfall? Out of the question! On the contrary, their failure has brought salvation for the gentiles, in order to stir them to envy.
And if their fall has proved a great gain to the world, and their loss has proved a great gain to the gentiles -- how much greater a gain will come when all is restored to them!
I want you to be quite certain, brothers, of this mystery, to save you from congratulating yourselves on your own good sense: part of Israel had its mind hardened, but only until the gentiles have wholly come in;
and this is how all Israel will be saved. As scripture says: From Zion will come the Redeemer, he will remove godlessness from Jacob.
And this will be my covenant with them, when I take their sins away.
As regards the gospel, they are enemies, but for your sake; but as regards those who are God's choice, they are still well loved for the sake of their ancestors.
There is no change of mind on God's part about the gifts he has made or of his choice.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
In his third reflection on the significance of Israel in the history of salvation, Paul tries to grasp what God’s plan for his people might be. Even though he had claimed that the true Israel was just the small remnant that demonstrated its faith in God by accepting Jesus as the Messiah, Paul now faces the problem of those who have not made this decisive step. Is it possible to imagine that by choosing a people made up of Jews and Gentiles, God has rejected the historical Israel, abandoning it to its fate From the very beginning, Paul has strongly affirms that the Lord has not abandoned "his people." Their rejection of the proclamation of salvation is a mystery that causes him deep suffering. But even in the face of this refusal, which he cannot explain, the apostle is sure that this attitude is not permanent. Paul can see a mysterious relationship between the people of Israel and the new covenant; it is a bond that is full of mystery, but it certainly plays a role in the history of salvation. The new covenant is related to the first the way that a new graft is related to the old limb onto which it is placed. Nonetheless, the believers of the new covenant should not become proud; on the contrary, they are called to give thanks for being called to salvation. Paul closes with a hymn to the depth of divine wisdom that continues to direct the history of humanity. And he writes to the Romans: "I want you to understand this mystery: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved." This is a prophetic vision of history that reveals a unique closeness between ancient Israel and those who believe in Christ. The latter are asked to recognize the presence of God in human history in every circumstance - Saint John XXIII would say, to recognize the "signs of the times" - and to take part in them in order to guide history towards God’s kingdom of love and peace.
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
